Aboitiz Shipping Corp. vs CA, et al.

Facts:

These consolidated petitions are just among the many others elevated to this Court
involving Aboitizs liability to shippers and insurers as a result of the sinking of its
vessel, M/V P. Aboitiz, on 31 October 1980 in the South China Sea. One of those
petitions is the 1993 GAFLAC case, docketed as G.R. No. 100446.[31]

The 1993 GAFLAC case was an offshoot of an earlier final

and executory judgment in the 1990 GAFLAC case, where the General Accident Fire and
Life Assurance Corporation, Ltd. (GAFLAC), as judgment obligee therein, sought the
execution of the monetary award against Aboitiz. The trial court
granted GAFLACsprayer for execution of the full judgment award. The appellate court
dismissed Aboitizs petition to nullify the order of execution, prompting Aboitiz to file a
petition with this Court.

In the 1993 GAFLAC case, Aboitiz argued that the real and hypothecary doctrine
warranted the immediate stay of execution of judgment to prevent the impairment of the
other creditors shares. Invoking the rule on the law of the case, private respondent therein
countered that the 1990 GAFLAC case had already settled the extent of Aboitizs liability.

Following the doctrine of limited liability, however, the Court declared in the
1993 GAFLAC case that claims against Aboitiz arising from the sinking of M/V
P.Aboitiz should be limited only to the extent of the value of the vessel. Thus, the Court
held that the execution of judgments in cases already resolved with finality must be
stayed pending the resolution of all the other similar claims arising from the sinking
of M/V P. Aboitiz. Considering that the claims against Aboitiz had reached more than
100, the Court found it necessary to collate all these claims before their payment from the
insurance proceeds of the vessel and its pending freightage. As a result, the Court
exhorted the trial courts before whom similar cases remained pending to proceed with
trial and adjudicate these claims so that the pro-rated share of each claim could be
determined after all the cases shall have been decided.[32]

Issue:
The principal issue common to all three petitions is whether Aboitiz can avail
limited liability on the basis of the real and hypothecary doctrine of maritime law.
Corollary to this issue is the determination of actual negligence on the part of Aboitiz.

Ruling:

A perusal of the decisions of the courts below in all three petitions reveals that
there is a categorical finding of negligence on the part of Aboitiz. For instance, in G.R.
No. 121833, the RTC therein expressly stated that the captain of M/V P. Aboitiz was
negligent in failing to take a course of action that would prevent the vessel from sailing
into the typhoon. In G.R. No. 130752, the RTC concluded that Aboitiz failed to show that
it had exercised the required extraordinary diligence in steering the vessel before, during
and after the storm. In G.R. No. 137801, the RTC categorically stated that the sinking
of M/V P. Aboitiz was attributable to the negligence or fault of Aboitiz. In all instances,
the Court of Appeals affirmed the factual findings of the trial courts.

The finding of actual fault on the part of Aboitiz is central to the issue of its
liability to the respondents. Aboitizs contention, that with the sinking of M/V P.Aboitiz,
its liability to the cargo shippers and shippers should be limited only to the insurance
proceeds of the vessel absent any finding of fault on the part of Aboitiz, is not supported
by the record. Thus, Aboitiz is not entitled to the limited liability rule and is, therefore,
liable for the value of the lost cargoes as so duly alleged and proven during trial.